In the week ending April 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since December 6, 1969 when it was 202,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 232,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 229,250, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 231,250 to 231,500.

Read the full release.

FLAGSTAFF, AZ – Major League Painting Inc. will pay $242,618 in back wages and liquidated damages to 70 employees for violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor invites news organizations that wish to participate in press lock-ups to renew or request credentials. The new credentials will be valid beginning in August 2018.

CHICAGO, IL – Consistent with its mission to protect the American workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor has revoked Rock River Valley Self Help Enterprises, Inc.’s certificate under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) after finding nearly 250 workers with disabilities were being exploited.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) providing guidance to EBSA’s national and regional offices regarding proxy voting, shareholder engagement, and economically targeted investments by fiduciaries of private-sector employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Safety, Health, and Environment Services Group; and Georgia Department of Public Health’s Division of Health Protection have formed a two-year alliance to raise awareness about lead exposure.

XENIA, OH ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Rural King Supply Inc., a national farm supply company, for failing to maintain forklifts properly at its Xenia facility. The company faces proposed penalties of $258,672.

OSHA responded to complaints that Rural King Supply Inc. allowed employees to operate a damaged forklift, despite employees’ reports of faulty brakes. OSHA investigators determined that the company failed to take the forklift out of service, or perform needed repairs.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has entered a consent judgment ordering Information Networking Company Inc., and its president John Benjamin Riddle, to restore $47,408 to the company’s employee benefit plan.

The judgment resolves a January 2018 lawsuit in which the U.S. Department of Labor alleged the defendants failed to remit employee contributions, collect matching employer contributions, and defaulted on a prior settlement agreement with the Department to restore funds owed to the plan.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered Mr. Good Vape LLC of Chino, California, to reinstate a former manager and pay him $110,000 in compensation after he was fired for claiming the company’s production of flavored liquids for e-cigarette vapor inhalers violated federal environmental law.

BELLEVUE, OH ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Bellevue-based plastics company Wilbert Inc. for multiple safety violations after an inspection found employees exposed to fall, machine, and electrical hazards. OSHA proposed penalties of $261,454. 

In the week ending April 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 232,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 230,000.

Read the full release.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) urges heavy construction employers in 10 metropolitan Utah counties to participate in a wage survey to help establish prevailing wage rates as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. 

WHD is collecting data on wages paid to workers on all heavy construction projects active from Aug. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017. The survey is not limited to federally funded projects.

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) opened registration for a comprehensive compliance seminar for federal contractors, unions, and workers on the rules governing federal prevailing wage requirements. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required.

WHD will hold the training on June 12-14 at the Holiday Inn-Country Club Plaza, One E 45th St., in Kansas City.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced approximately $62 million in grants to provide employment assistance and workforce development services to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) has adopted new regulations that clarify how maximum and minimum compensation rates apply to claims payable under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) and its extensions. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on April 19.

KIDDER COUNTY, ND – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited excavation contractor Kamphuis Pipeline Company for exposing employees to trench cave-ins and other serious hazards while installing water metering pits and lines. The company faces proposed penalties of $454,750.

GRETNA, NE – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Nebraska contractor Premier Underground LLC for failing to protect its workers from excavation collapse hazards. The company faces proposed penalties of $46,930.

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI – Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Metropolitan Concrete Corp. will pay $73,647 in back wages to 15 employees working under the H-2B non-immigrant visa program, which provides for the admission of non-immigrants to the U.S. to perform temporary non-agricultural labor or services.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has ordered Gary Tetone, owner of Southern California-based company GT Drywall, to comply with U.S. Department of Labor investigators in a long-running Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation with which he has refused to cooperate since 2016.

BLUEFIELD, WV - The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia has entered a consent judgment requiring Lambert Construction of Bluefield Inc. to pay $116,818 in back wages and liquidated damages to 45 employees. Additionally, the Bluefield, West Virginia, construction company will pay $16,000 in civil penalties to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) found in a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.